When a delegation from AmCham Taipei’s Infrastructure Committee called at the Public Construction Commission (PCC) recently, it was a chance to get acquainted with the PCC minister, Wu Hong-mo, a former deputy mayor of Kaohsiung who took up his current post when the Democratic Progressive Party government took office in May. Wu, who holds a…
The United States has one of the world’s most complicated taxation systems, and also is one of the few jurisdictions to tax its citizens – as well as permanent residents and foreigners staying in the country for an extended time – on the basis of their global income. As a result, questions frequently arise regarding…
In an executive order likely to have far-reaching implications in improving the transparency and effectiveness of Taiwan’s regulatory process, the Executive Yuan in early September issued a directive extending the notice and comment period for proposed regulations from the current 14 days to 60 days. The new system took effect from the beginning of this…
TFDA shares its views on how the prospective new statute will be implemented. For the past several years, the Taiwan government has been working on revisions to the Statute for Control of Cosmetics Hygiene (the Cosmetics Act for short) to bring it up to date with current market approaches to protecting consumer interests. With the…
The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI), the first major U.S.-based think tank devoted to Taiwan and cross-Strait affairs, is scheduled to start formal operations on September 14. The institute has reportedly raised an initial fund of US$20 million, of which US$3 million was used to purchase a building in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C….
Taichung hopes to become a regional hub for international groups. With backing from the central government, the central Taiwan city of Taichung is working on plans to establish a facility to serve as the regional headquarters for international non-government organizations (NGOs) active in Southeast Asia. Announcing the project in July, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung proposed…
Taiwan is urged to take early action in resolving outstanding trade issues. Despite continuing uncertainty about the ultimate fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact within the U.S. political process, AmCham Taipei’s 2016 “Doorknock” delegation to Washington D.C. heard from many observers inside and outside the U.S. government that Taiwan should take urgent steps…
Companies have been punished for disseminating disease-awareness information. In Taiwan, as in the rest of the world with the lone exceptions of the United States and New Zealand, pharmaceutical companies are prohibited from advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. The main rationale for that approach is the belief that decisions on what drug to prescribe…
Two amendments are said to be contrary to Taiwan’s WTO obligations. AmCham Taipei’s Retail Committee has raised questions as to whether two amendments to Article 23 of the School Health Act (SHA), dealing with the provision of lunches to public school students, contravene Taiwan’s obligations to international trade agreements to which it is a party….
With allowance for further updating, many of these items are likely to appear on the TIFA agenda. Each spring the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issues a voluminous document called the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, which assesses the openness of U.S. trading partners to American products and services. In…
